The Enemy Within
by TreeOfLife1997
Summary: When a transporter malfunction leaves Jim in an... Unusual situation, the crew are at a lose as to what to do about it. But the same transporter malfunction strands Sulu and the rest of the away team on a planet which reaches a hundred and twenty degrees below zero at night! And with night quickly approaching on the planets surface, the crew don't have long to try and fix it.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter One:

Stardate: 2258.177

"That should make a good specimen," Jim nods to Sulu, who's holding up what Jim could only describe as a smallish pink mammal with a horn.

If it wasn't for the fact the animal looked more like a dog than a horse, he would have said it looked like a miniature unicorn.

"The temperature is starting to drop," Sulu said, as he looks around.

"Yeah," Jim agrees, shivering slightly. "At night it gets down to a hundred and twenty degrees below zero… And I ain't planning on hanging around to see if that's true."

"That's nippy," Sulu looks down at the animal in his arms, it didn't look like it could withstand such cold temperatures.

A crash near by caught both Jim's and Sulu's attention and Jim runs towards where the sound had Coe from. He finds Lieutenant Fisher on the ground, groaning slightly in pain.

"What happened?" Jim asks, offering Fisher a hand.

"I fell off that bank, sir," Fisher points up to the bank before accepting Jim's hand. "And cut my hand."

"Let's see it," Jim demands, once he's pulled Fisher to his feet.

The cut didn't look like much at first glance, but it was deep.

"Get back to the ship," Jim orders. "Report to Sickbay."

"Yes, sir," Fisher said before pulling out his comm, with his good hand. "Geological Technician Fisher. Ready to beam up."

" _Aye,_ " Scotty relies. " _Locked on. Energise._ "

"What happened?" Ensign Wilson questions, as Fisher appears on the transporter pad.

"I took a tumble," Fisher answers.

"Onto what?" Wilson asks.

"I don't know," Fisher shakes his head. "Some kind of yellow ore."

"Decontaminate that uniform," Scotty orders Ensign Wilson as he leaves the transporter room.

"Yes, sir," Wilson answers, before long down at the read out on the transporter controls. "What ever that stuff is it acted like a burnout."

"What do you mean?" Fisher asks, frowning as he was sprayed with a mist of decontamination liquid.

Before Wilson could answer they were interrupted by another request from the surface.

" _Captain Kirk ready to beam up,_ " Jim's voice sounds.

"Just one moment, Captain," Wilson answers. "It checks out okay now. I better go get Keenser, we'll need to go over this with a synchronic metre, just to double-check… All right, Captain. Locked onto you."

Seconds later Jim appears on the transporter pad and he stumbled as he steps down from it and raises a hand to his forehead with a pained wince.

"Are you all right, Captain?"

"I'm all right, Ensign," Jim answers with a slightly forced smile. "Just a little dizzy… I think I've got a migraine coming."

"Maybe you should come down to sickbay with me, Sir," Fisher speaks up. "It might profit you to let Doctor McCoy give you the once-over."

"I might just do that," Jim nods, wincing again as a spike of pain shot through his head.

)o(

"You picked a good day, Fisher," McCoy picks up a hypo. "Business has been lousy. What'd you do, take a fall on purpose so you could get a little vacation?"

"No, sir," Fisher quickly answered, eyeing the hypo McCoy was holding. "I just slipped, that's all."

McCoy examines Fishers hand, before nodding to himself and picking up the PADD which held Fisher medical information.

"Take this," McCoy hands it to him. "Nurse Chapel will treat your hand… Then back to duty status, Fisher. I have no sympathy for clumsiness."

"Business has been lousy, you say," Jim speaks up, making his presence known. "Yet you're in a bad-mood none the less."

McCoy turns and glares at him and frowns as Jim forces a smile. He instantly picks up a medical scanner and steps towards Jim.

"Whoa," Jim takes a step back. "Can't I just be here checking on Fisher, he took quite a nasty fall, Bones."

"Jim," McCoy warns him, as Jim dodges away from him again.

"It's nothing, Bones," Jim forces himself to smile again. "I don't know why I bothered to come… Well, seeing as Fisher is going to be fine, I better getting going. Yeah, I'll just be going…"

Jim had no idea why he thought going to sickbay was a good idea… The moment he stepped through the doors, he'd been hit by a wave of memories and he hadn't felt fear or panic like it since he was fourteen years old… He didn't like hospitals of any sort, but he'd get himself to one when he knew he had a serious injury or when he knew McCoy wasn't in the mood for messing around, but he hadn't felt this level of fear and panic for years… So why had he put himself through this, just because he has a silly little headache.

"Jim," McCoy quickly catches Jim by the arm. "Sit down."

McCoy pushes him towards one of the bio-beds, as he checks the results on his medical scanner. Jim quickly sits down and his eyes dart around the room, with something akin to fear in them. What was happening to him? He takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down before he starts having a panic attack, only to almost jump off the bio-bed as McCoy places a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm fine, Bones," Jim quickly mutters, glancing at his best friend. "It's just a headache."

McCoy frowns at him before stabbing him in the neck, causing him to yelp.

"What was that for, Bones!?" Jim demands.

"Painkiller and a mild sedative," McCoy answers. "It should help with your headache."

Jim glares at him and McCoy smirks slightly.

"I hate you sometimes," Jim mumbles, rubbing his neck, but the painkiller had already started to kick in and Jim sighs with relief.

"Get some rest, Kid," McCoy orders. "My guess is your headache is the result of stress-"

"What can I say, Bones," Jim grins. "Being Captain of a Starship is a stressful job."

McCoy rolls his eyes.

"Get out of here, you over grown brat," McCoy shook his head. "Stop cluttering up my sickbay."

"Sure thing, Doc," Jim salutes him, before hurrying away.

McCoy stares after him, just how strong a painkiller had he given Jim? He just shrugged one shoulder slightly and turns back to his work. He'd given up trying to understand Jim within months of knowing him, it was almost impossible to tell when Jim was acting strangely… Because sometimes Jim liked to mess with people's heads just for fun.

But McCoy made a metal note to keep an eye on him all the same.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _The Enterprise has been tasked with a specimen-gathering mission on planet Alpha 177. We are making good progress, but after an unfortunate tumble of Lieutenant Fisher's part, he was forced to beam aboard early. Unknown to any of us during this time, during his tumble, Fisher had come in contact with a strange mineral on the planets' surface. Due to the minerals magnetic nature, it had an undesirable effect on the transporter…._

)o(

"The ship's manifests, sir," Yeoman Rand enters Jim's quarters, alongside Jim. "I think they're in order now."

"Thank you, Janice," Jim smiles at her before walking over to his bed and sitting down.

"Are you alright, Jim?" She asks.

"Just got a bit of a headache, that's all," Jim answers, rubbing his head, the painkillers had lasted about five minutes before the pain had returned… It felt like his head was trying to split itself in two!

"Would you like me to comm Doctor McCoy?" Rand questions.

"No," Jim mutters. "I'll be okay… That's all, Yeoman."

"Yes, sir," Rand nods and quickly leaves Jim's quarters.

With a groan Jim lies back on his bed and shuts his eyes. He never had a head ache quite like this one before… The pain, it was different somehow. Suddenly a chime sounds through the room, someone was at his door.

"Come in," Jim calls and the door to his quarters opens.

Jim rolls his head to the side and catches sight of Spock standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Mister Spock," Jim greets him. "What is it?"

"Is there something I can do for you, Captain?" Spock asks, moving across the room and staring down at Jim.

"Like what?" Jim frowns, confused.

"Doctor McCoy seemed to think I should check on you," Spock answers.

"That's nice," Jim mumbles, before staring at Spock. "Come on, Spock, I know that look. What is it?"

"If you are in pain you should consult Doctor McCoy," Spock replies.

"I already have," Jim forces himself to smile at Spock. "He gave me a painkiller… It's just taking a while to kick in that's all."

Spock raises an eyebrow at him and Jim sighs.

"I'm fine, Spock" Jim gives him a look.

"In that case, if you'll excuse the intrusion Captain, I'll get back to my work," Spock inclines his head before turning to exit the room.

Jim suddenly sat bolt upright and grabbed his head as he cried out in pain. He must have fallen asleep, but he didn't remember falling asleep. He looks round his slightly disorientated and spots his comm on the edge of his desk… It was closer than the intercom.

Forcing himself to his feet, Jim stumbles towards his desk, but collapses to his knees halfway there as the pain in his head gets worse. It really did feel like his skull was about to split into two. Crawling forward, Jim reaches his desk and reaches up and his hand closes around his comm.

He falls forward and rests on his elbow and screams in agony as the pain suddenly increase tenfold. Blindly he flicks his comm open and tries to stop himself from crying out again, wasters begin to rolls down his checks. Jim gaps and a tangy metallic taste fills his mouth. Coughing, Jim spits out blood. Slowly Jim reaches up and touches his face.

His nose was bleeding.

"Kirk to McCoy," Jim whispers into his comm, as a ringing fills his ears.

"McCoy here," McCoy answers. "What do you need, Jim?"

But before Jim can answer, another wave of pain hits him and he cries out dropping his comm. Jim gasps and he's sure he heard his skull cracking as he loses consciousness… But that might have just been his head hitting the floor.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of this story. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Two:

McCoy sighs, as he rests the PADD he was reading on his desk and leans back into his seat. He didn't know which was better: Sickbay be swamped with patients or sickbay being empty and having nothing to do other than paper work. Who was he kidding, paper work was boring and by the time he's done, his writing hand feels like it's going to fall off, but it was far better than a ship-wide crisis.

"Doctor McCoy," Nurse Chapel appears in his office doorway.

"What is it, Nurse?" McCoy questions, sitting up.

"Lieutenant Fisher has been treated and has been cleared for duty," Nurse Chapel informs him.

McCoy nods and sighs again and watches as Nurse Chapel leaves, before looking down at his PADD. He still had things to sign off on and forms to fill out and two crewmembers who's medical files were incomplete. Suddenly his comm beeps alerting him to an incoming call.

"McCoy here," He answers, picking up his comm and flipping it open. "What do you need, Jim?"

But the only answer McCoy gets is a cry of pain, shortly followed by a crash, which sounded an awful lot like a body hitting the ground.

"Jim?" McCoy sits up even straighter and the grip on his comm tightens. "Jim?"

Still he gets now answer.

"Damn it," McCoy cursed, snapping his comm shut and jumping to his feet.

He quickly exits his office and grabs a medical kit and heads out, nodding to Nurse Chapel as he does so, who raises a questioning eyebrow. McCoy hurries down the hallway towards the turbo-lift, cursing under his breath. He was never going to even think about complaining about doing paperwork ever again!

"Captain's quarters," McCoy orders as he steps into the turbo-lift.

It doesn't take long for the turbo-lift to arrive on the Captain's level and McCoy quickly makes his way down the hallway to Jim's quarters. He dreaded to think what the Captain had done this time, because if anyone could find a way to seriously injure themselves in their own quarters, it'd be Jim.

McCoy reaches Jim's door and quickly buzzes, but he gets no reply.

"Jim?" McCoy calls.

Grumbling, McCoy enters his override code and the door to Jim's quarter's whooshes open and McCoy steps into the room. He looks round, Jim comm lay on the floor, still open. But there was no sign of Jim. His quarters were completely empty.

"Jim?" McCoy calls.

A whimpering noise catches McCoy's attention and McCoy quickly turns and heads towards Jim's sleeping area. Hidden in the corner between the partisan and the bed was a small child, with dirty blond hair and big, wide, fearfully blue eyes. McCoy freezes and stares at the kid, who had their knees drawn up to their chest and tears rolling down their cheeks.

"Jim?" McCoy asks, hesitantly.

The kid slowly looks up and meets McCoy gaze and nods. McCoy stares back at him, he'd know those bright blue eyes anywhere… It was definitely James Tiberius Kirk, just an eight year old James Tiberius Kirk.

)o(

" _Scotty to Commander Spock,_ " A voice disturbs Spock from his work in the science labs.

"Spock here," Spock answers, pressing a finger down on the intercom button at his desk.

" _We've got a wee problem in the transporter room, sir,_ " Scotty answered.

"I am on my way, Mr Scott," Spock answered, before cutting the connection.

Spock quickly got to his feet and headed towards the door to the lab room. He locked the door behind him, he didn't want anyone disturbing his work and walked along the hallway at a brisk pace, as he headed towards the turbo-lift.

"Transporter room," Spock orders, as he steps into the turbo-lift.

The lift instantly begins moving and it takes less than a minute for the turbo-lift to reach its destination. Spock quickly exits the lift and heads along the hallway leading towards the transporter room. He pauses in the doorway for a brief moment as he surveys the scene before him.

"What is it that you require assistance with, Mr Scott?" Spock inquires, entering the room.

"Transporter malfunction," Scotty answers. "We beamed up this wee animal and… Well take a look for yersel'. It's in these specimen cases."

Scotty gestured wildly to the two cases, standing next to the transporter pad. He walks over to the first one and open the top to reveal a very angry fluffy pink animal.

Spock raises an eyebrow, "It appears the specimen has arrived on board well and unharmed, Mr Scott."

"Aye," Scotty agrees. "That is what ah thought at first. A few seconds after they sent this one up through the transporter, that duplicate appeared."

Scotty walks over to the second case and pulls back the top to reveal a fluffy pink animal, sleeping peacefully.

"Except it's not a duplicate, it's an opposite," Scotty explained. "Two of the same animal, but different. One gentle, like this. One mean and fierce, like that. Some kind of savage, ferocious opposite. Commander, we don't dare beam Mister Sulu and the landing party up. If this should happen to a man…"

"Indeed," Spock inclines his head slightly.

)o(

Janice Rand enters her quarters, shaking her head slightly as she worried about her Captain, who'd been her friend since their first year at the academy. Jim had gotten ill every now and again, but she'd never seen him with such a pained expression before. She could only hope he'd feel better soon.

She set down her work PADD and reached down to pull off her boots, when a noise from deeper in her quarters, catches her attention. She looks up. There was someone going through her stuff! She couldn't see who it was from the back, but they were dressed in dark clothes and had dark blond hair, almost like their hair had been dragged through dirt and left, staining the fine coloured hair darker.

She clears her throat and watches as the person turns round. It a young man, around nineteen years old and Rand's jaw dropped. The young man standing before her looked like a younger and dirtier version of the captain. But that was impossible, she knew. Not a moment ago, she'd been with Jim and there was no way he could have gotten her before her… This wasn't the captain.

"Oh!" Rand exclaims, as she slowly moves towards the intercom. "You startled me. Is there something that you needed?"

Before Rand could move any further the young man was in front of her and wrapped a hand around her throat, forcing her back against the now closed door she'd just entered through.

"Who are?" The young man demands. "Where am I?"

Rand tries to answer but the hand around her throat was too tight and she couldn't get the words out, she could only just about breathe!

"I asked you a question!" The young man snaps. "Answer me now, or I'll kill you!"

Rand tries to answer, only to choke on her words.

"It's a shame, really," The young man grins at her and there was a look in his eyes that Rand didn't like. "You're so beautiful. It's a shame I have to kill you. Trust me, this'll be about as much fun for you, as it'll be for me."

Rand instantly beings to struggle, kicking out and grasping at the hand around her throat. The hand only tightens, cutting off her airways and leaving her gasping on nothing. The young man reaches down and pulls out a weapon and Rand's eyes begin to water.

"Shh," The young man whispers. "Don't fight me. We don't want any of your friends to hear now, do we?"

He forces her down on to the ground and Rand renews her struggles, reaching up and scratching the young man's face. He reaches up to touch his face and inspect the damage Rand has done and Rand uses this moment of distraction to get away. She quickly scrambles to her feet and runs towards the door, it opens just as the young man behind her gets to his feet to come after her.

"Call Mr Spock!" Rand screams at Lieutenant Fisher, who happened to be passing. "Call Mr Spock!"

"Geological Technician Fisher to Commander Spock," Lieutenant Fisher spoke into the intercom. "Deck twelve, section-"

Only to be cut off by the young man who'd attacked Rand, who knocks him out with a single punch before running off down the hallway.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _Unlike the specimen which was beamed aboard, which was split into two beings, one good and one evil, I wasn't. Spock's theory on it was, that as an intelligent species, a human's personality and mind are far more complex than just good and evil and as a result I was split into different versions of myself, all of which represent a key part of the defining attributes which make me who I am…. The only problem was, none of those versions of me the crew encountered remembered I'm Captain of the USS Enterprise. It was almost like I'd been de-aged as well as split into pieces…_

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Three:

McCoy walks through the hallway from the turbo-lift, heading towards the medical bay. In his arms he held who he believed to be the ship's captain, be it a de-aged captain. The child had wrapped his arms around McCoy's neck as soon as they had left the captain's quarters and had yet to let go. The child was scared and it was clear to McCoy, whatever had happened to the Captain, it had effected his memories as well as his age.

Entering sickbay, McCoy pauses as he notices Lieutenant Fisher was back and McCoy didn't need a medical scanner to tell him Fisher had a broken nose and a possible concussion. And Jim's Yeomen, Janice Rand, was also there, being checked over my Nurse Chapel. Commander Spock was standing with them talking and Rand looked as if she'd been crying. More worryingly were the bruises on her neck... It was almost like someone had tried to strangle her.

Nurse Chapel turns and catches sight of McCoy.

"Doctor McCoy," She greets, before frowning questioningly at the eight year old in the doctors arms.

McCoy shakes his head and walks over to one of the bio-beds and slowly puts the young Captain down. Instantly the screen overhead began to beeps and the eight year old jumps in fright and looks round wildly, with wide eyes full of fear. McCoy quickly reaches up and switches off the alarm.

"It's okay," McCoy instantly tries to comfort the child in front of him. "It's okay. It's just a way to let me know you're hurt."

McCoy almost jumps as he turns to find Spock standing next to him, he hadn't heard him approach. But Spock paid no mind to McCoy's cursing, his gaze was fixed on the young version of the Captain. He raises an eyebrow slightly, before turning his attention to McCoy who had retrieved a medical scanner and was running it over the child's body.

McCoy let out a curse as he saw the scanners read out.

"Nurse Chapel," McCoy calls over his shoulder. "I need a dermal regenerator and an IV line."

Nurse Chapel nods and hurries off to get what McCoy had ordered.

"May I ask where you got the human child from, Doctor?" Spock asks, once Nurse Chapel had disappeared.

"He's the Captain, Spock," McCoy answers, trying to keep the irradiation out of his voice.

"The Captain?" Spock repeats, raising an eyebrow in mild disbelief.

"Yes!" McCoy snaps, glaring at Spock. "That's what I said!"

"Fascinating," Spock mutters, staring at the young captain siting on the bio-bed, who was watching him with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Before any more could be said, Nurse Chapel returns and McCoy set about treating the eight year old Captain.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _On the planet's surface, the temperature is beginning to drop. The landing party is still down there and is in growing jeopardy. Meanwhile back on the ship, the crew is also in danger due to the malfunction of the ship's transporter and the multiple de-aged duplicates of myself are running round the ship… Most of them won't pose much of a danger to the crew, but there is one side of my personality which is very dangerous as my Yeoman, Rand, hadn't the misfortune of finding out… Only that wasn't the worse the 'evil' side of me can do. The crew has no idea as to just how much danger they are in…_

)o(

McCoy sits at his desk, checking over a report. In front of his desk stand Rand, Fisher and Spock. Outside McCoy's office Nurse Chapel was keeping the young version of the captain entertained. McCoy had run the dermal regenerator over the worst of the Captain's bruises and cuts… McCoy had asked him how he came by such injuries and had been told the kids at school picked on him because he was too smart.

The dehydration McCoy had fixed with the IV line, was no doubt a result of the transporter malfunction and the result of the de-aging progress the Captain had gone through to reach the age of eight. Never before had McCoy ever encountered anything like it. He'd read the odd medical report about transporter malfunction and what happened to the beings involved… But never before had he heard about someone being de-aged.

"Yeoman Rand," Spock said, turning to Rand. "Could you please tell the doctor what occurred prior to your visit."

"Of course, Mr Spock," Rand nods. "I returned to my quarters, Doctor, having delivered some reports to the Captain. When I entered my quarters there was someone already in there and they were going through my things."

McCoy looks up at Rand, as she fiddled with her hair nervously and looked down at the floor.

"Please continue, Yeoman," Spock orders.

"I confronted them," Rand continues. "It was a young man… He couldn't have been any older than seventeen maybe eighteen… He looked like what I would expect Jim, I mean the Captain, to have looked like at that age… Only he acted nothing like the Captain."

Rand pauses and looks up at McCoy, who nods to her.

"He grabbed me," Rand said. "He demanded to know who I was and where he was… But his hand was around my throat and I couldn't answer! When I didn't answer he threatened to kill me! He grabbed a weapon, a knife I think, he was going to kill me! I began to struggle and he told me to be quiet, that he didn't want my friends to hear."

Fisher reaches forward and places a comforting hand on Rand's shoulder, who takes a deep breath and calms herself.

"He forced me to the floor and I managed to scratch his face," Rand explains. "While he was checking to see what damage I had done, I managed to get free. I ran, Doctor, I got out of my room and into the hallway. Lieutenant Fisher was passing and I told him to call Mr Spock, but the young man, he was right behind me… He attacked Fisher. Knocked him out with a single punch and then he ran… I don't know where he went."

"Thank you, Yeoman," Spock said. "You may go."

"Yes, sir," Rand said and quickly left the office.

"Lieutenant Fisher," Spock inclines his head.

"There isn't much I can tell you, Doctor," Fisher said. "I didn't see who attacked me. They grabbed me from behind and the next thing I know I was waking up in a bio-bed in sickbay."

"Back to bed, Lieutenant," McCoy orders, getting to his feet. "Nurse Chapel will be keeping you under observation for the next twelve hours."

"Doctor," Fisher nods to him before leaving.

"There's only one logical answer," Spock said as he and Doctor McCoy walk to the door of the office. "There is more than one duplicate of the Captain aboard."

)o(

"How did all this happen?" Jim asks, as he knelt beside the transporter, studying it.

"I don't know, Sir," Scotty answers. "But when Fisher came up, his suit was covered with a soft yellow ore that had highly unusual properties. It may have caused an overload. Cannae tell, not yet."

"Does the transporter work at all?" Jim asks, standing up and turning to face him.

"Aye sir," Scotty replies. "But we don't dare bring up the landing party. They might be duplicated like this animal."

Scotty gestures to the two boxes and Jim nods, not having a clue as to what the engineer was talking about. But the guy seemed to know him, since he bumped into him walking along a hallway. Jim still hadn't worked out how he'd got aboard a starship, last he remembered he was in a bar in Iowa. So Jim was just going along with it until he worked out how to get off the ship and back home… Tom was going to love this when he found out!For some reason they thought he was the captain, which was hilarious, because he'd never willingly join Starfleet!

"How long will it take you to find the fault?" Jim questions.

"Cannae say, sir," Scotty shook his head.

"We just can't leave them down there," Jim answers. "It's getting dark… They'll die. The surface temperature of that planet goes down to a hundred and twenty degrees below zero at night."

Luckily for Jim Scotty had let that bit of information slip earlier when Scotty had asked him to come check on the transporter.

"We're doing everything we can, sir," Scotty pledges.

"I know," Jim replies.

Suddenly the door to the transporter room opens and Spock steps into the room. He looks up and sees Scotty and Jim standing next to the transporter.

"Captain," Spock greets, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

Jim nods in response and turns back to Scotty.

"I've got to go," Jim tells him. "Keep me up to date."

"Aye, sir," Scotty replies.

"First Officer," Jim nods to Spock as he walks past him and out of the transporter room.

Jim knew enough to know the stripes on Spock's sleeves meant he was the first officer of the ship.

"Captain," Spock said, as he turns and follows Jim.

This was the last thing he needed! Jim let out a sigh. If anyone was going to work out he wasn't the captain, it'd be the first officer. What was that saying? Fake it, until you make it? But to be honest Jim wasn't sure he was going to be able to bluff his way out of his one…

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Four:

Jim enters the captain's quarters and looks round, taking in the details of the room and for a brief moment he really did believe he was the Captain of the Enterprise. Because this room was definitely his. But why would be ever join Starfleet? The simple answer to that was, he hadn't and this was some weird misunderstanding and as soon as he found a way off the ship, he could go back to his normal life.

Walking over to the desk across from the door, Jim grins to himself as he notices the PADD which is sitting in front of the computer. He sits down and switches it on. It doesn't take him long to hack his way into it and access all the information he needs. He quickly memorises the crew files of the senior crew, along with, Engineering and Medical crew files. It doesn't take him long to find out his first officer is called Spock.

"Is there anything in particular I can help you with, Spock?" Jim asks, looking up at him.

"Indeed, Captain," Spock answers. "It concerns two other versions of yourself."

"Two other versions of myself?" Jim repeats.

"Affirmative," Spock nods. "The transporter malfunction which split the species bought up into two individuals, also seems to have affected you, Captain."

"Affected me how?" Jim asks, sitting forward in his seat and setting his PADD down.

"The malfunction seems to have split you into multiple versions of yourself, all of which we have discovered so far have been of different ages," Spock explains.

"And how many have you discovered so far?" Jim questions, while hundreds of possibilities flashed through his mind.

"Two," Spock replied. "Although one of them has only been seen by two crew members, one of which was attacked by him."

"And the other?" Jim almost shudders, having a very good idea, which version of himself that unfortunate crew member had run in to.

"He appears to be eight years old and Dr McCoy is currently caring for him," Was the answer he receives.

Jim nods to himself, thinking back to what his life was like at that age.

"Any theories, Spock?" Jim asks, getting to his feet.

"Several," Spock answers, but doesn't add anything.

Jim sighs. This was going to be fun, not! He walks back over to the door of the Captain's quarters and exits, heading back the way he had come moments before. He steps into the turbo-lift and almost sighs in annoyance as Spock joins him.

"Medical bay," Jim orders and lift begins moving.

By the time the time the turbo-lift doors open, Jim's ready bang his head against the turbo-lift wall closest to him, repeatedly. The silence has been suffocating. Jim liked to think of himself as a social butterfly, but there was just something about Vulcan's that had Jim stumped. They were so hard to talk to, the lack of emotion in their voices, made it near impossible to tell whether they were truly interested in the conversation or not… It was just so awkward.

Suddenly a movement upheld caught Jim's attention and for a moment Jim couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was a fourteen version of himself, fighting and winning against, three members of the ship's security. And as the final member of security dropped, Jim found himself doing something he never though he would…

"JT!"

)o(

The fourteen version of the Captain, known as JT, turns and looks round. Up the hallway from him, two people were standing close to the turbo-lift, one of which was a Vulcan. The other was human and he looked familiar, like JT had seen bad seen him somewhere before but couldn't remember where.

"How'd you know my name?" JT demands, glaring at the two of them.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," The human grins at him and JT frowns.

"Try me," JT snaps.

"I'm you," The human answers. "Just an older version of you."

"Bullshit," JT replies, taking a step back as they approach him.

The human laughs, "Trust me, JT, I didn't believe it either when my first officer told me."

JT glares at him.

"I don't believe you," JT takes another step back. "You're lying. You work for him, don't you? This is just a trick, isn't it?"

"Might I inquire as to who you are referring to?" The Vulcan asks.

"No," JT answers, not turning his attention away from the human.

The human laughs and then he whistles and it was a whistle JT knew. It was the signal he and the others had used on Tarsus to warn each other if Kudos' men were approaching. No one outside of the nine knew that whistle. JT froze and stares at the human before him, who he realised is telling the truth.

"Okay," JT said. "I believe you… JT."

"Call me Jim," The older version of himself said. "Otherwise it's going to get very confusing very quickly."

JT nods and turns his attention to the Vulcan.

"This is my first officer, Spock," Jim explains.

"You joined Starfleet?" JT demands.

"Yeah…" Jim replies.

"I do believe the Captain joined Starfleet because he was dared to," Spock elaborates.

Jim laughs.

"Of course I did," He mutters with a shake of his head. "Nothing else would have convinced me it was a good idea."

JT stares at him, "You joined Starfleet on a dare, after everything they've done!?"

"It appears so," Jim nods.

)o(

"Jim!" McCoy exclaims, upon looking up and seeing Jim entering the medical bay alongside Spock.

"Doctor McCoy," Jim answers, as he makes his way over to where McCoy is working.

Jim stops next to McCoy, not noticing the look McCoy sends him. Jim stares at the child sitting on the bio-bed for a moment, before glancing at Spock. He then looks back at the child and shakes his head in slight disbelief.

"Hello, Jimmy," Jim finally greets the child.

The youngest version of the Captain looks up and stares at Jim for a moment, before his attention turns to JT, who was standing beside Jim and looking around the medical bay wearily as if he was expecting something to jump out and attack him at any moment.

"Hi," Jimmy answers nervously.

"What's the last thing you remember, Jimmy?" Jim asks, softly as the youngest version of himself shifted uncomfortable.

"S-Sam," Jimmy stutters. "Me and Sam went to play in the river… Frank's going to be angry, isn't he?"

"No," Jim shakes his head. "We'll explain what's happened, Jimmy. He won't be angry."

"Okay…" Jimmy nods and Jim could see the tears in his eyes. "Where is Sam?"

"I don't know," Jim replies, before coughing to clear the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat. "But he's most likely still at the river, looking for you."

"I'm sorry," Jimmy suddenly said.

"What for?" Jim asks.

"Making Sam worried," Jimmy answers.

"He'll understand, Jimmy," Jim reassures him. "None of this is your fault."

"Okay," Jimmy mumbles.

Jim sighs and turns away.

"Doctor McCoy, Commander Spock," Jim walks towards the private office across the bay from them. "A moment, please."

Spock and McCoy quickly follow Jim and enter the office after him. As soon as the office door shuts behind them, McCoy turns to face Jim and folds his arms across the chest and stares at Jim. Jim stares back for a moment before looking away.

"Spock," Jim turns to Spock. "Alert security. Tell them if they come across any other versions of me to keep their distance and alert me immediately. And Doctor McCoy, I want you to set up a private room for the younger version of myself and keeping them away from the crew and whatever you do, don't tell JT you're a doctor. Am I clear?"

McCoy does a double take, while Spock simply inclines his head.

"Captain," Spock said as he turned and left the office.

"Who's Sam, Jim?" McCoy asks, as soon as Spock's gone.

"My older brother," Jim answers.

"You have an older brother?" McCoy demands.

"Had an older brother," Jim corrects, shutting his eyes for a moment. "He died before I joined Starfleet."

"Why did you never tell me?" McCoy questions and the hurt tone in his voice made Jim look up.

Jim studies McCoy for a moment. It was clear McCoy was a close friend of the Captain he'd been mistaken for… Maybe he really had joined Starfleet.

"Because he's dead," Jim answers simply. "The past is the past, Doctor. Nothing I can do is going to bring my older brother back… I was eleven when my brother run away from home and the next time I saw him, I was burying him. There just isn't that much to tell."

McCoy nods, "I'm glad you're okay Jim."

Jim forces himself to smile.

"Well if that's all, Doctor," Jim said moving towards the door. "I'm needed elsewhere. And remember don't tell JT you're a doctor… He'll know that's what you are, just don't tell him… The results won't be good of you do."

"Jim," McCoy calls after him, causing Jim to stop.

"Yes, Doctor?" Jim asks.

"Nothing," McCoy quickly answers. "Forget it."

Jim frowns but quickly leaves and McCoy watches him go. Jim hadn't called him Bones once.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _On the planet's surface, the temperature is still dropping. Soon it'll be too cold for the landing party to survive in. Taking a shuttle sown to the planet's surface is out of the question, the atmosphere simply won't allow it. McCoy had also noticed that the oldest version of my de-aged self, isn't really the Captain, but is simply pretending to be… I'm glad at least one member of my crew is able to tell…_

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Five:

"Mr Scott," Jim greets, as he and Spock entered the transporter room. "Any progress?"

"No, sir," Scotty answers with a shake of his head.

Jim sighs and turns to face Spock, "How many counterparts do you reckon I have running around thanks to the transporter malfunction?"

"It's impossible to tell, Captain," Spock replies. "But no crewmembers have reported seeing any unauthorised personnel aboard the ship."

"Well, so far we have Jimmy and JT," Jim mutters. "Both of whom represent important times in my past… Both represent defining moments that have made me who I am today… Yeoman Rand claimed she was attacked by me. Shit."

Jim quickly turns and spots an intercom device on the wall of the transporter room and made his way over to it.

"This is the Captain speaking," Jim spoke into the intercom. "There's an impostor aboard the ship, a man who looks like me. This man is dangerous. Very dangerous. Do not approach him. If you see him contact security immediately. All crew members are to arm themselves. The impostor may be identified by scratches on his face. Section chiefs, assign personnel to the search. All search parties report to Mister Spock for assignment."

Jim glances at Spock, to see the Vulcan had raised an eyebrow.

"Did I miss something?" Jim asks.

"The phaser weapons must be set to a stunning force and locked," Spock answers.

"Oh, yeah, right," Jim quickly turns back to the intercom. "All hand phasers must be set on base cycle, stunning force. The impostor is not to be injured, unless absolutely necessary."

With a click of a button, Jim switches channels.

"How's it going down there, Mister Sulu?" Jim greets.

" _It's already twenty degrees below zero,_ " Sulu answers after a moment. " _Can't exactly call it pleasant down here, Captain._ "

"Is there any way we can help them?" Jim turns to Spock.

"Thermal heaters were transported down," Spock replies. "They were duplicated upon arrival and were unable to operate."

"Then we've got to get them up," Jim turns towards the transporter. "Mister Spock, I want you to take over command of the ship while I help Mr Scott with the transporter… We're running out of time. If we don't get this thing fixed soon, the away team are going to freeze to death."

" _Medical bay to Commander Spock._ " A voice sounds over the intercom, before Spock had a chance to reply.

"Spock here," Spock answers.

" _Transporter Technician Wilson found injured near the Captain's cabin,_ " They inform Spock. " _He says the impostor attacked him and took his hand phaser._ "

"Acknowledged," Spock replies. "Continue the search."

"We've got to find him before he does any more damage, but how?" Jim mutters.

"Apparently, this version of yourself, however different in temperament, has a basic understanding of the ship and its devices," Spock points out.

"It easy enough to hack into a PADD and access all that information, Mister Spock," Jim counters. "We cannot assume he knows any more about this ship than Jimmy or JT."

Spock inclines his head, "That being the case, perhaps we can outmanoeuvre him by determining his next move. Knowing how the ship is laid out, where would you go to elude a mass search?"

"The lower levels," Jim answers after a moment, thinking back to the blueprint of ship he'd seen. "The Engineering deck."

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _Attempts made to aid the landing party have not worked. Everything we have beamed down has been duplicated, much like myself only less diverse. I'm unsure how much longer the away team will be able to survive. Any attempts to fix the transporter have been put on hold, as the most dangerous version of myself needs to be tracked down and stopped before he ends up hurting anyone else… Or worse._

)o(

"Set and locked on base cycle to stun, not to kill," Spock ordered informs Jim as they stand in the turbo-lift, heading down to the engineering levels. "What about your phaser, Captain?"

"Already set," Jim answers, staring straight ahead at the turbo-lift doors.

"Would it not be wise to have a security team accompany us, Captain?" Spock inquires.

"No," Jim replies. "It's too dangerous… You have no idea what this version of me is capable of, Mister Spock. I know because he's me. I've lived through it. I know the things I've done and the lengths I'd go to in that state of mind… If the other me thinks for one second we have him cornered, he won't hesitate to kill us. And trust me, Mister Spock, he will kill us."

"It is highly unlikely that-" Spock began.

"That a human could kill a Vulcan in hand-to-hand combat?" Jim cut him off. "Don't think for a second that will be able to save you. He is the most dangerous person you will ever be faced with, Mister Spock, because he has nothing left to loss."

Before Spock had a chance to answer the turbo-lift doors opened and Jim quickly stepped out and gripped the phased in his hand loosely, as he peered around. The level was deserted, but Jim couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. Had everyone left or were they still here, but not in a conscious state.

"Mister Spock," Jim whispers. "Head right."

Spock inclined his head, before heading off to the right, while Jim heads to the left. They'd have a better chance splitting up, as a single target would draw less attention than two walking together. Jim walks slowly as he keeps a shaper eye on his surroundings. If he was caught off guard even for a second, it'd be game over.

He suddenly froze as he sensed something behind him. Spinning on his heels, Jim turns ands comes face to face with the version of himself he and Spock had come down here to find. There was a hint of madness in his eyes and something about the way he held himself screamed feral. Jim almost took a step away from him, as memories from that place flashed through his mind… It seemed he could never catch a break.

First Tarsus and then that place.

"Who are you?" The other version of himself demanded. "Why do you look like me? Answer me!"

Jim only just had time to step back and duck out the way as the other version of himself lunged at him. Jim quickly distanced himself and the other version of him, turns and raises a phaser. Jim knew it was set to kill not stun.

Jim jumps to the side half a second before the other version of himself fires and Jim lets out a hiss of pain as the phaser blast caught the side of his arm, leaving an ugly red wound in its wake. Jim looks up and his gaze was instantly drawn to the wound on the other version of him self's arm. The wounds they were identical.

"Isn't it obvious," Jim answers. "I'm you."

The other version of himself fires again and Jim only just managed to avoid being hit.

"You can't hurt me," Jim laughs. "You can't hurt me, not without hurting yourself too. You can't kill me. You can't. Because you'd kill yourself in the process. Don't you understand? I'm part of you. We are the same person. The transporter malfunction may have split us apart, but we are the same person. We're still connected. You need me. I need you."

"I don't need you," The other version of Jim said, raising the stolen phaser and aiming at Jim yet again. "You're lying. This is just another trick."

Suddenly Spock appeared behind the other version of Jim and neck-pinches him, causing him to fall to the floor and the shot to go wide, hitting a control panel instead, which exposed into a shower of sparks.

)o(

"He'll be regaining consciousness soon," McCoy said, as he, Jim and Spock stood beside a bio-bed. "And not knowing what his physical state is, I don't think I dare give him a tranquiliser of any kind. I think we'd better bind him."

"Definitely," Jim mutters. "But that won't stop him from escaping… It'll buy us some time at least."

"There medical restraints," McCoy points out.

"So?" Jim answers. "If I can get out of them, which I can by the way, he can most definitely get out of him."

"What do you suppose I do then, Jim?" McCoy demands. "If I give him a tranquiliser, I have no idea what effect it will have on him! And in turn I have no idea what effect that will have on you or any of the other versions of you for that matter."

"Oh, I have a good idea," Jim mutters. "But you have to understand how dangerous he is! He's the part of me I keep locked away, trapped deep in my mind, where he'll never see the light of day. Because if he thinks you're a threat, he will kill you!"

"Judging from my observations, Captain," Spock explains. "It would be best to post an arm guard to keep watch over him should he wake."

"No," Jim shakes his head. "That is literally the worst possible thing you can do."

" _Engineering to Captain Kirk,_ " Scotty voice suddenly sounded over the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers, moving over to the intercom on the wall.

" _Mister Scott, sir, on the lower level of the Engineering deck,_ " Scotty explains. " _I've found a new trouble with the transporter. The casing has a wide gap ripped in it. The main circuits have been burned through. The abort control circuit is gone altogether_."

"The shot that went wide," Jim concludes. "Do what you can, Mister Scott. Time is of the essence. Kirk out."

"Damn it, Jim!" McCoy suddenly grabs Jim's arm and began examining the wound there. "Why didn't you tell me you'd been hit?!"

Jim glances at him, "It isn't that bad… There are more important things to be worrying an out, Doctor."

"Hold still," McCoy orders, reaching for his medical scanner.

"There isn't time," Jim argues, trying to pull free. "It can be treated later."

"Hold still," McCoy repeats sternly. "Just let me clean it and cover it. You're gonna be no good to anyone running around with an infected and untreated wound!"

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Six:

" _Can you give us a status report, Captain?_ " Sulu asks. " _Temperature's still dropping. It's now forty-one degrees below zero._ "

"We've located the trouble," Jim answers. "It shouldn't be much longer."

" _Do you think you might be able to find a long rope somewhere and lower us down a pot of hot coffee?_ " Sulu questions, only half-jokingly.

"I'll see what we can do," Jim laughs.

" _Rice wine will do, if you're short on coffee,_ " Sulu adds.

"Just hold in there, Mr Sulu," Jim said. "You'll back on the ship soon. Kirk out."

Jim kneels down beside the transporter and studies the wires visible from where he'd removed a panel. If only he could somehow bypass the damaged area, it'd give them enough time to beam the away team aboard and longer to work out how to fix the transporter. Not to mention the damage which had occurred in engineering.

"Engineering deck," Kirk spoke into his comm. "Kirk here."

" _Scotty here, Captain,_ " Scotty answered.

"The unit, Mr Scott," Jim ordered. "Status report."

" _The transporter unit ioniser,_ " Scotty explained. " _Nothing much left of it, sir._ "

"How bad is it?" Jim asks.

" _We can't repair it in less than a week,_ " Scotty answered.

Jim sighs and reached up and rubbed his temples with one hand.

"Do what you can," Jim said. "Kirk out."

" _Enterprise, this is Sulu,_ " Sulu voice sounds through Jim's comm, just as Jim was about to start working on the transporter.

"Kirk here, Mister Sulu," Jim answers.

" _Hot line direct to the Captain,_ " Sulu muttered. " _Are we that far gone?_ "

"I gave everybody the afternoon off," Jim replies, reaching for a wire. "I'm watching the store, so to speak. How is it down there?"

" _Oh, lovely, except that the frost is building up,_ " Sulu sounded irritated as he replies. " _We're using hand phasers to heat the rocks. One phaser quit on us, three still operating. Any possibility of getting us back aboard before the skiing season opens down here?_ "

" _This is Spock, Mister Sulu,_ " Spock suddenly interrupts from elsewhere on the ship. " _You'll have to hold on a little longer. There's no other way. Survival procedures, Mister Sulu._ "

" _Per your training programme, Mister Spock,_ " Sulu acknowledged.

)o(

McCoy growls as he looked round the medical bay. JT and Jimmy had escaped and were now running around the ship. He'd been informed by Spock of several reports from all over the ship concerning them, security was currently trying to trace them but weren't having much luck. What did that say about the ship's security? They were being outsmarted by two kids!

"Doctor McCoy?" Someone calls from behind him.

"What?!" McCoy snaps spinning around to face them.

The Ensign how stood before him jumps and the bundle they are carrying in their arms begins to cry. McCoy does a double take, before striding forwards and plucking the baby from their arm. McCoy stares down at the baby he's now holding and tearful, vibrant blue eyes stare up at him.

"Shh," McCoy coos softly, rocking the baby version of Jim Kirk in his arms gently. "Shh."

"I found him, sir," The Ensign begins talking. "In a ventilation shaft."

McCoy looks up at the Ensign.

"You did the right thing by bringing him here, Ensign," McCoy told them. "But not a word of this to anyone. That's an order."

"Yes sir!" The Ensign salutes McCoy before hurrying away.

"Scaring the Ensigns again, McCoy," Chapel said as she glances over at him.

Upcoming seeing the baby she sighs, but doesn't comment as she continues with her work. McCoy glares at her as he continues to rock the baby in his arms. It was quite the sight.

"If they didn't come stumbling into the medical bay with injuries caused by their own stupidity, they wouldn't have anything to worry about," McCoy defends himself.

Chapel rolls her eyes.

"Now what are we going to do with you, Jimbo?" McCoy asks the baby in his arms.

The baby version of Jim simple wriggles until he gets his arms free of the blanket he's wrapped in and reaches his hands towards McCoy face. McCoy face softens in an instant and a small smile appears on his lips. He offers the baby version of Jim one of his hands and the baby version of Jim grabs hold of it immediately, gripping onto him as hard as he can, giggling all the while.

" _Security to shuttle bay two,_ " A voice sounds over the intercom. " _Unauthorised personnel in shuttle bay two._ "

McCoy looks up and sighs. He knew without a doubt that the unauthorised personnel in shuttle bay two were the versions of the Captain which had escaped from the Medical Bay. Who knew Jim could cause so much trouble? Actually McCoy already knew how much trouble Jim could cause, it was simply a fact of there were now multiple versions of him running around the ship…

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _On the planet's surface, the temperature is still dropping. Time is running out for the away crew and the crew aboard the ship are no closer to getting the transported fixed. All the while the de-aged duplicates of myself are running around the ship causing havoc and running circles around the ship security teams. What can I say… I knew how to hack into computers from a very young age._

)o(

"Damn," Jim curses as he sat back on his heels next to the transporter.

He been trying to fix it for the last few hours now, but he was having no luck what so ever. Everything he tried, didn't fix the problem according to the computer and Jim didn't want to test it. Having multiple versions of himself was causing enough problems as it was…

But if it came down to it, he would beam the away team up. Because multiple versions of the same person was much better than said person dying. After all, they could always fix the transporter at a later date and return all those affected to normal once more. Who knew how long that would be though?

Jim sighs and gets to his feet. He turns round to access the intercom, in order to contact Scotty and get an update on the repairs taking place in engineering, only to stop as he catches sight of the person standing in the doorway of the transporter room. Jim knew who it was, it was himself, just a younger version… He's was around seventeen years old.

"You're me," The seventeen year old said, staring at Jim cautiously.

"And you're me," Jim answers, staring back at the younger version of himself, who grins.

"The boss is never going to believe me when I tell him about this," He said.

"I doubt he will," Jim answers.

The doors to the transporter room open and Spock enters. He pauses when he catches sight of the younger version of the Captain. He raises an eyebrow, before turning his attention to Jim.

"Captain," Spock said. "McCoy has requested your presences in the Medical Bay. He claimed it was urgent… It would appear that the ship's computer is having trouble locating yourself and your counterparts."

Jim nods and turns to look at the transporter for a moment. There was nothing more he could do for the time being. He'd have to work out another plan of action… he picked up the PADD he'd been using and stared at the screen which he had been writing down notes on, along aside a detailed picture of the transporters inner workings.

"If the transporter is not fixed within the next hour, Mr Spock," Jim looks up from his PADD and stares straight at Spock. "Beam up the away team. That is an order. Any violent versions of the crewmembers beamed up are to be held in the brig until the transporter is fixed. None violent versions can either be taken to sickbay or be given guest rooms."

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock inclined his head.

"You," Jim turned to the younger version of himself. "Come with me."

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I wasn't originally planning to have a baby Jim, but Rebootfan mentioned it and I thought it'd be fun to write. Also in this story the Captain's Logs have been recorded after Jim's been returned to normal and is simply him commenting on the events that happened while he'd been split into multiple versions of himself. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Seven:

When Jim enters the medical bay, he almost steps back out again as the sounds of agonised screams reach his ears. He signals for Spock to accompany the newest version of himself over to where Nurse Chapel was standing, in order to be checked over, before he quickly hurried towards the side room the screams were coming from.

Only to pause in the doorway as he took in the sight which greeted him. The evil version of himself was strapped to a bio-bed, withering in pain and screaming so loud from the pain, it was a mystery how half the ship couldn't hear him.

"What's happening?" Jim demands, stepping into the room fully.

"Apparently his body functioning weakened during the duplication process," McCoy explained. "A fact I failed to consider."

"He's not dying, is he?" Jim asks.

McCoy didn't answer.

"He is," Jim concludes from McCoy's silence.

The evil version of him let out another scream and Jim glanced at McCoy, who was preparing a hypo.

"What if he dies?" Jim asks. "What happens to me? Can I survive without him?"

"I don't know, Jim," McCoy answers.

McCoy injects the evil version of the Captain with the hypo and slowly it stabilises him. Jim breathes a silent sigh of relief.

"I have to find a way to fix this," Jim mutters. "We can't survive like this. We have to become whole again. There's a part of me that doesn't want him back. A part of me just wants to lose the part of me, of us, that he represents… Because where he comes from, there's nothing but darkness and pain. He comes from a past I wish I could forget… He's like an animal, a thoughtless, brutal animal. Yet he's me. We lived through it. We survived it… But he's the part of me that I keep locked away, deep in my mind, where he'll never see the light of day."

"Jim," McCoy tells him. "You're no different to anyone else. We all have our darker side. We need it! It's part of what and who we are. It's not ugly, it's human."

"Human," Jim lets out a bitter laugh. "There's nothing human about him."

"Yes, human," McCoy states firmly. "A lot of what he is, makes you the man you are."

Jim shakes his head, "There is no part of him in me. I refuse to even acknowledge that part of my past existed most of the time. He isn't human. That place… It stripped us of our humanity. He… He's what's left when there nothing left to take."

" _Captain Kirk,_ " Uhura's voice sounds over the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers.

" _Your presences is needed in the transporter room,_ " Uhura informs him. " _Chief Engineer Scott, believes he had found an answer._ "

"I'm on my way," Jim replies. "Kirk out."

)o(

"What is it?" Jim asks as he steps into the transporter room.

"I think I've found a way to get the transporter working, sir," Scotty answers. "I've attached some bypass and leader circuits to compensate for the difference. Tied directly into the impulse engines, there shouldn't be more than a five point variation in the velocity balance…. I think we should send the animal through first, sir."

Jim nods, "Go ahead."

Scotty moves forward and opens the box containing the aggressive animal.

"I'll grab him by the scruff of the neck and hold him as long as I can," Scotty said.

"Be careful," Jim warns, "The last thing we need is for you to be sent the medical bay. Lust with teeth like that, a bites gonna hurt."

Scotty nods and carefully grabs hold of the animal, he pulls out a hypo loaded with a sedative and injects the animal. It doesn't take long for the animal to full limp."

"If this doesn't work," Scotty said as he placed both the animals on the transporter pad. "I don't know what will."

Scotty quickly moves over to the transporter controls and the two animals dematerialise and rematerialise a moment later… Only the animal isn't breathing.

"It's dead," Jim said, as he knelt on the transporter pad next to it.

Behind him, Scotty turns pale. Jim stares at the animal for a moment, before reaching forward and picking it up.

"Sir!" Scotty exclaims.

Jim glances at him, "Don't worry about it. Once we know what killed it, it'll help us understand what went wrong, if anything did go wrong."

Scotty nods and Jim smiles reassuringly.

"Why don't you double check," Jim nods towards the transporter.

"Of course, sir," Scotty quickly moved forward.

And as Jim steps out of the transporter room, with the dead animal in his arms, the smile slips from his face.

)o(

"Autopsy in-depth," McCoy orders a nurse, as Jim places the dead animal down on one of the bio-beds. "Hurry."

"Any ideas?" Jim asks.

"I don't know," McCoy answers, as the nurse begins scanning the animal. "It could have died of some kind of shock… We won't know until we get a full post-mortem."

"No autopsy is necessary to know that the animal was terrified, confused," Spock said, having crossed the medical bay from where he'd been watching the newest version of Jim. "It was split into two halves and suddenly thrust back together again. It died of shock."

"Yeah," Jim agrees with a nod. "Sounds likely."

"It couldn't understand," Spock adds. "You can. You have your intelligence controlling your fear."

Jim nods, "Get the transporter room ready."

"Could be, if, maybe," McCoy interrupts them. "It's all guesswork so far. Just theories. Jim, why don't you give me a chance to do an autopsy and let Spock check the transporter circuits."

"No need," Jim shakes his head. "Scotty's already on it."

"Aren't you forgetting something, Captain?" Spock asks.

"Nope," Jim replies. "I don't think so."

"The away team," Spock tells him.

"How much time do they have left?" Jim questions.

"Twenty-eight minutes and fifty one point three seconds until the temperature is too low to be habitable," Spock answers.

"We have to take the chance," Jim mutters. "If I and all my duplicates go through the transporter and survive we know it's safe."

"Suppose it wasn't shock, Jim," McCoy disagrees. "Suppose death was caused by transporter malfunction. Then you'll die. They'll die, anyway. Jim, you can't risk your life on a theory!"

"I have to!" Jim exclaims. "It's the only way we're going to know if it works! I gave an order to have the away team beamed aboard, regardless of whether the problem had been fixed or not… What happens when they get split apart like me? Are you going to make us all sit around in here, while I bodies slowly collapse, due to the fact we've been split apart so many time? The only way we're going to know of it works, is by trying it."

" _Captain Kirk, I have a tie-in with Sulu,_ " Uhura said over the intercom.

"Kirk here," Jim answers. "Put it through."

" _C-Captain K-Kirk, Sulu h-here. One h-hundred s-seventeen below. C-Can't last m-much longer,_ " Sulu's voice sounded through the slight static. "I-I c-can't see clearly. I-I th-think the c-cold penetrated th-the communicator. T-Two men un-unconscious. No t-time. N-No… Can't w-wait… T-Time-"

The concoctions was lost.

"Mr Sulu," Jim exclaims. "Mr Sulu. Damn it! This can't wait. We have to try the transporter. I can't let them die, just to avoid risking my own life."

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _Time's running out for the away team…_

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Eight:

Jim walks through the hallways of the Enterprise, as he tried to track down the two youngest versions of himself. So far he'd checked engineering and the shuttle deck, but there had been no sign of them. But Jim knew himself better than anyone else, so he knew JT wouldn't be walking though the hallways and taking the lifts like he was and he was no doubt taking Jimmy along with him.

Jim sighs to himself. Where would he go if he suddenly found himself on a strange ship? The transporter room. JT would want to escape, but Jimmy would just want to hide, fearful that Frank would find him. They would have most likely already made it to the transporter room and seen the people working there. So where would they go next? The shuttle bay. They had already been there. The only other way to get off the ship, was by going through an airlock and Jim really hoped JT wasn't desperate to try that option.

So where would they hide? There were so many places on this ship which would offer good spots to hide. Jim sighs again. He knew they wouldn't stay hidden in one spot for long, with so many crewmembers walking around the ship and working, as soon as someone got to close whether they saw JT and Jimmy or not, they two of them would still move. So where would there be a few people as possible? That could be quite a few places.

Entering a turbo-lift, Jim thinks for a moment. The observation deck sounded like a good place to start. The lift began moving and Jim leans against the wall of turbo-lift and tries not to think too hard about what would happen if his form destabilised completely before the transporter was fixed. He had faced death countless times before, but every time he'd had something physical to fight against. How could you fight against the destabilisation of your own body?

The turbo-lift came to a halt and Jim quickly walks out. He stops in front of the doors leading to observation deck and shuts his eyes for a second. What ever happened the younger versions of himself couldn't find out the danger they were all in. JT reaction would definitely be violent and who knew how many people he could injure before they were able to restrain him. They already had one mad and dangerous version of himself, they didn't need another.

The doors to the observation deck opened and Jim steps into the large room. JT and Jimmy were both there huddled together in the far corner, hidden from view almost completely. They both catch sight of him and JT is up on his feet in seconds. Jim calmly raises his hands, to show he means no harm.

"We're not going back!" JT instantly snaps.

"What happened?" Jim asks, slowly making his way over to them.

"They had hypos," JT answered.

Jim nods and stops a few feet away from him.

"Something's happened," Jim said slowly, unsure how to convince them to go back to the medical bay without revealing how serious the situation had become. "We all require treatment.

"No!" JT shook his head.

"What about Jimmy?" Jim asks. "If we don't get treatment he might not be strong enough to survive."

JT turned and looks at Jimmy, who was still curled up on the floor trying to make himself look as small as possible.

"How do I know you're not lying?" JT demands. "How do I know this isn't a trick?"

"You have my world," Jim answers.

JT glares at Jim, before looking at Jimmy once more.

"Fine," JT said at last. "But if anyone hurts him…"

"I know," Jim nods.

JT reaches down to help Jimmy to his feet, but as soon as they come in contact with each other JT dematerialises. Jim froze as he stares at the spot JT had been standing only a second before. Jimmy started whimpering in fear and Jim quickly moved forward, but stops himself from touching Jimmy. It would appear they had less time than he originally thought.

)o(

"Sick bay to Lab," McCoy spoke into the intercom at his desk. "Anything new on those bios?"

" _They all show signs of rapid signs of destabilisation, Doctor,_ " A voice answers.

"Acknowledged," McCoy replies. "McCoy out."

McCoy gets to his feet and heads out of his office. He walks across the medical bay to where the most violent version of the Captain was being held. He was currently unconscious, having passed out from the pain, but it was still too risk to inject him with anything as any changes to his chemistry could have catastrophic results. McCoy moves over to his bed and examines him, he pulled back on of his eyelids to check his pupils, when the evil version of Jim eyes opened and McCoy found himself with a knife wrapped round his throat and a knife held to it also.

"Well, either choke me or cut my throat," McCoy stares straight at the evil version of Jim. "Make up your mind."

"English," The evil version of Jim mutters. "I thought I dreamed it. Where am I!?"

"You're-" McCoy begins to say, only the hand around his throat tightens. "You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat."

"Answer my question!"

"It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery," McCoy replies. "Just under the left ear."

The evil version of Jim stares at him for a moment and suddenly McCoy found himself flat on his back on the floor and blood dripping from a shallow cut on his neck. Nurse Chapel hurries into the room.

"Doctor McCoy!" She exclaims. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Nurse," McCoy answers, letting Nurse Chapel help him to his feet and he wipes the blood from his neck.

Nurse Chapel guilds him from the room and forces him to sit down on a biobed while she grabs a medical scanner and a dermal regenerator.

"Great," McCoy mutters, as he catches sight of the newest version of Jim. "Another one."

"Don't be like that, McCoy," Jim grins at him, suddenly appearing at his side with Jimmy, but no sign of JT. "Think how much fun this could be."

McCoy sat frozen for a moment as he stares at Jim, before he shook himself out of his shock. He sounded so much like the Jim he was best friends with… But they were the same person, he reminded himself. The Jim before him could only be a few months younger, at most, than when he and Jim had meet for the first time on the shuttle.

"You really need to look up the definition of fun some time, kid," McCoy answers as Nurse Chapel began to treat him.

Jim just grins back and McCoy rolls his eyes. Yes, that was definitely the Jim he knew and loved.

"So…" Jim sat down on the biobed across from McCoy. "What happened to you?"

"The evil version of yourself escaped," McCoy informs him.

"You're lucky to be alive," Jim mutters.

The sound of a baby crying sounds through the air and Jim turns in its direction.

"That's so awesome," The newest younger version of Jim grins, moving across the medical bay to have a look at the baby. "How many people can say they've seen the baby version of themselves in person?!"

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," McCoy snaps, before quieting his voice as baby Jim lets out a startled cry.

Jim snorts and turns towards the door, Spock had just entered… Who was still staring at the baby version of Jim. Jim rolls his eyes slightly. Was a baby version really that surprising?

"Mr Spock," Jim calls across to him. "I need you to get in contact with the away team and I want someone to remain in contact with them at all times. If any of them begin showing signs of anything, beam them aboard immediately."

"Affirmative, Captain," Spock inclines his head slightly.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _Time's running out for the away team. But I know I would have made the same decision as my oldest self. The temperature on the planet's surface is still dropping and it is happening faster, as the last of the sun's rays vanish beyond the horizon. But little did the crew know, more trouble was on the way…_

)o(

"Yeoman Rand!" Jim calls, as he catches sight of Janice Rand in the hallway ahead of him.

"Captain, I-"

"Yeoman," Jim cuts her off. "I owe you an explanation."

"No," Rand shakes her head. "Mr Spock explained."

"Yes, I do," Jim disagrees. "Spock may have explained it, but it'd still like to apologise. It was a version of me which attacked you. The transporter malfunctioned, it divided me, created duplicates. The part of me you found in your cabin, he's a part of me I wish wasn't. I'm truly sorry, Yeoman."

"It's okay, sir," Rand smiles.

The two of them enter a turbo-lift.

"Bridge," Rand orders.

"Engineering," Jim said.

A couple of seconds the turbo-lift doors open and Rand steps out of the turbo-lift onto the bridge where the evil version of Jim was present, causing Rand to stumble backwards into the turbo-lift.

"Yeoman," Jim grabs her arm to steady her. "Are you alright?"

"The other you," Rand said. "The one who attacked me. He's there."

Jim quickly stepped out of the turbo-lift and onto the bridge.

"No word from Mister Sulu, sir," Farrell said.

"Prepare to leave orbit, Mister Farrell," The evil version of Jim ordered. "Well?"

"Captain!" Farrell exclaims.

"I gave you an order!" He snaps back.

"But what about-"

"Prepare to leave orbit!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Stop!" Jim orders, causing everyone on the bridge to turn and look at him, but Jim didn't take his eyes off the other version of himself. "Do not leave orbit!"

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Nine:

Captain's Log:

 _After I confronted the evil version of myself on the bridge, I had no choice but to hand command over to Spock. The risks were too high if I stayed in command, because who knew what could have happened if I hadn't been on the bridge to stop my other self. The away team would most likely have perished… Thankfully the other version of myself fled the bridge and no one was hurt, but on the down side, I was able to keep track of him._

)o(

"Jim," McCoy growls at Jim. "You can't!"

"What else can I do?" Jim challenges. "JT had already disappeared, dematerialised. It's probably already too late, so what's the harm in trying?"

"You could die," McCoy snaps, only a couple of seconds away from grabbing Jim by the shoulders and shaking him.

"And as you've already said, I and all my duplicates, are unstable," Jim reminds him. "If I don't do anything, I'm going to die anyway!"

"Not on my watch, you won't," McCoy shakes his head.

"You can't stop it, McCoy," Jim disagrees. "The only way this is to go back through the transporter so I'm whole again."

"It's too dangerous, Jim!" McCoy sits down at his desk heavily. "You know what happened to that animal."

"I do," Jim answers. "But it's a risk I'm willing to take."

"You're in no state to be running round the ship, Jim," McCoy shakes his head. "You're destabilising at an alarming rate."

"So what you want me to stay here?" Jim asks. "How long are you going to be able to keep me stable for, Doctor? A day? A week? A month?"

"I don't know, Jim!" McCoy snaps, slamming a hand down on his desk. "But if you do this and it doesn't work, you'll be dead. I can't bring you back from that… I can't lose you, Jim, you're my best friend!"

Jim sighs and sits down in the chair opposite to McCoy.

"If I don't do this," Jim states calmly. "I die anyway. Least this way I have a chance of surviving… And so do the away team."

"Doctor McCoy!" Nurse Chapel suddenly burst into the office. "Doctor McCoy!"

"What is it, Nurse?" McCoy asks.

"Jay," Nurse Chapel explains. "He dematerialised."

"Jay?" McCoy asks.

"The latest version of the Captain to be found, sir," Nurse Chapel tells him.

"That two now, Doctor," Jim leans back in his seat. "You can't stop this from happening."

McCoy glares at him, before turning back to Nurse Chapel.

"Keep the other under observation," McCoy ordered.

He turns back to Jim.

"Don't leave the medical bay," McCoy points a figure at him.

Jim just shakes his head and sighs.

)o(

Jim sits on a bio-bed working on a PADD and keeping an eye on the medical staff working around him. He knew McCoy was keeping him restricted to the medical bay in an attempt to keep his body from destabilising, but Jim knew he was right. Going through the transporter was the only way he was going to survive… It might already be too late. JT was gone and who knew what kind of damage that would do.

"My tummy hurts," Jimmy suddenly said from across the Medical bay, clutching his stomach in pain.

Jim looks up as Nurse Chapel runs across the Medical bay to where Jimmy was siting. She studies the read out above the bed.

"Doctor McCoy!" Nurse Chapel exclaims. "Someone get me Doctor McCoy right now!"

One of the other nurse's quickly hurries off in search of Doctor McCoy.

"Jimmy," Nurse Chapel said softly as she reaches towards Jimmy. "I need you to lie back flat on the bio-bed."

She grips Jimmy's shoulders to guide him backwards as he groans in pain.

"It hurts," Jimmy whimpers.

"Shhh," Nurse Chapel tried to comfort him, rubbing his arms. "It'll be okay, sweetie. When Doctor McCoy gets here, we'll be able to give you some painkillers."

Suddenly Jimmy sat bolt upright and leans over the side of the bio-bed and vomits on the floor. Blood and bile covered Nurse Chapel's shoes and Jim drops his PADD as he watches the blood dribble down from Jimmy's chin.

"I don't feel very well," Jimmy mutters.

And before Nurse Chapel could move to do anything, Jimmy dematerialises.

McCoy suddenly appears through the doors of the medical bay entrance have just returned from the labs.

"Nurse Chapel," He hurries over to her and stops short as he notices the blood and bile covering Nurse Chapel's shoes. "Nurse?"

"Jimmy," Nurse Chapel pauses. "He's gone. He disappeared."

"What?" McCoy demands.

"He vanished, Doctor," Nurse Chapel explains. "It was like he simply dematerialised."

)o(

"You have a point, Spock?" Jim enters McCoy's office to find the Doctor glaring at the Vulcan first officer.

"Yes, always, Doctor," Spock replies. "We have here an unusual opportunity to appraise the human mind. His negative sides, which you call hostility, lust, violence, and his positive sides, which Earth people express as compassion, love, tenderness."

Jim clears his throat and both McCoy and Spock turn to face him.

"Jim," McCoy greets him.

Jim nods in return and looks between McCoy and Spock. McCoy wanted to keep him alive in hopes that the transporter would be fixed without the need of Jim to risk his life trying it to see if it works and it seemed Spock wanted to keep him around in his multiple forms to study the aspects of the human mind.

"Did you something, Captain?" Spock asks.

"No," Jim replies. "Not anymore."

Jim smiles slightly and back out the room, before turning to the control panel beside the door. He quickly entered an override code and locked the door. He'd made up his mind. He knew what he had to do. And he couldn't afford either of them getting in his way. He was going to risk going through the transporter, all he had to do was track down the evil side of himself and get the remaining version of himself to the transporter room.

Jim hurries through the hallways of the ship and turns down another hallway, when something suddenly crashes into him, sending him tumbling to the floor. He rolls to one side just in time to avoid a strike aimed at his head and quickly gets to his feet. He blocks another strike and glares at the evil version of him. He's quick to notice how the two of them have the same injuries, other than the scratches of the evil version of himself's face.

An idea suddenly began to form in Jim's mind.

Suddenly the evil version of himself pulled out a phaser, Jim didn't want to know what had happened to the crewmember it'd been taken from and aimed it at him.

"Can half a man live?" Jim questions, holding out his hands to show he had no weapon, not that it'd make much of a difference.

"Take another step, you'll die," Was his answer.

"Then we'll both die," Jim replies.

Moving fast, Jim ducks out the way of the phaser fire and pulls the knife out from where it was hidden in his boot. He quickly straightened up and held the blade to his own throat, right over his carotid artery. The other version of himself went to move and Jim pressed the blade down against his own skin, causing the other version of himself to stop and raise a hand to his own neck.

His hand came away bloody.

"I want to live!" The other version of himself exclaims, wide eyed. "I want to live!"

Keeping the blade pressed to his throat and ignoring the stringing pain which accompanied it, Jim moved forward and took the phaser from the other version of himself hands and clicked the weapon on to stun.

"You will," Jim promises. "All of us will."

He raises the phaser and fires the weapon.

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek.

Chapter Ten:

A wave of dizziness passes over Jim, as the evil version of himself fell to the floor unconscious, forcing him to lean against the closest wall until it had passed. Since when had the two of them been so closely linked? The injury to his arm, which had also appeared on the evil version of himself's arm, he'd simply put down to how close they had been to each other when it had happened… But thinking about that now, that made no sense.

Pushing himself off the wall, Jim moves forward and grabs the evil version of himself under the arms and began to drag him down the hallway towards the turbo-lift. He didn't have the strength to pick him up and carry him. He also didn't want to risk bending down in case the dizziness came back. Taking deep breathes Jim pulls the evil version of himself's body along the hallway, but it was slow progress.

By the time he'd reached the turbo-lift and dragged the unconscious body in, a layer of sweat covered his forehead and he was breathing heavily. Since when was he so weak? Maybe he was destabilising… Jim leans against the wall of the turbo-lift and tries to calm his breathing. He reaches up and hits the button for the intercom on the turbo-lift control panel.

"Kirk to Nurse Chapel," Jim said.

" _Nurse Chapel here, Captain,_ " Nurse Chapel replies after a moment.

"I need you to bring the other version of myself to the transporter room immediately," Jim tells her.

" _I'm sorry, Captain,_ " Nurse Chapel sounds nervous. " _But they're gone, sir._ "

"Gone?"

" _Yes, sir,_ " Chapel explains. " _They dematerialised like Jay._ "

"Understood," Jim answers. "Kirk out."

The turbo-lift doors opened and Jim lets out a sigh, before grabbing the only other version of himself left and began to drag him once more. It took him longer than he would have liked to reach the transporter room. Scotty looks up as he enters and Jim forces himself to smile. The chief engineer quickly made his way over to him and helped Jim carry the evil version of himself to the transporter.

"You'll have to hold on to him, Captain," Scotty told him.

Jim nods and held onto the other version of himself.

"Mister Scott," Jim calls across the room to Scotty, who'd moved across to the transporter controls.

"Captain?" Scotty answers.

"If this doesn't work…." Jim starts.

"Understood, Captain," Scotty nods.

Jim smiles.

"Ready whenever you are," Jim tells him.

Scotty nods and taps away at the control panel and Jim dematerialises. A couple of moments later he rematerialises.

"Captain?" Scotty questions.

Jim looks up at him, before raising his hands and turning them over as he studies himself.

"I'm back," Jim smiles.

Scotty grins.

"Scotty," Jim suddenly turns his attention to his chief engineer. "Beam the away team aboard immediately and contact medical!"

"Aye, Captain," Scotty answers.

)o(

"Bones!" Jim greets Doctor McCoy as he steps into the medical bay.

McCoy looks up as Jim approaches him.

"Will they be alright?" Jim asks, nodding towards where the away team were being treated.

"Severe exposure and frostbite," McCoy answers. "But I think they'll make it. How do you feel, Jim?"

"I've seen a parts of myself no man should ever see," Jim replies. "How do you think I feel?"

"Jim, you're no different than anyone else," McCoy rests a hand on Jim's shoulder. "We all have our darker sides. We need it! It's part of what makes us who we are. It's not really ugly, it's human."

"Human," Jim repeats.

"Yes, human," McCoy grips Jim's shoulder.

Jim smiles slightly, "I need to get back to the bridge. Later, Bones."

"Jim!" McCoy calls after him.

Jim pauses and turns round.

"If you ever lock me in a room with the hobgoblin again," McCoy threatens. "I'll move that full physical assessment of yours forward by three months."

Jim gulps before grinning at McCoy. He quickly heads out of the medical bay and towards the closest turbo-lift. The turbo-lift doors open and reveal Spock already in the turbo-lift. Jim steps in.

"Bridge," Jim orders.

The two of them stand side-by-side in silence as the turbo-lift moves.

"If I seemed insensitive to what you were going through, Captain, understand it is the way I am," Spock spoke suddenly.

Jim glances sideways at him.

"I know, Spock," Jim answers. "Don't worry about it."

The turbo-lift doors open and Jim steps out onto the bridge, Spock a step behind him.

"Status report," Jim orders as he sits down in the Captain's chair.

"Status report, green," Farrell answers. "All sections report ready, sir."

"Good," Jim smiles. "Punch it."

)o(

Jim looks up from where he's working at his desk as his door chimes.

"Enter," He calls.

The door opens and Janice Rand steps into his quarters.

"Captain?" Rand sees him sitting at his desk. "I can come back another time?"

Jim sets his PADD down.

"It's nothing that can't wait until later, Janice," Jim smiles at her. "What can I do for you?"

"Captain," Jim raises and eyebrow. "Jim, about what happened… One of the versions of you told me what happened, who he really was, and I'd just like to say that… Well, sir, what I'd like is…"

"Janice," Jim shakes his head. "You don't have to say anything. I'm just glad you weren't hurt. I'm also sorry you were attacked in your own quartets."

"It fine, Cap- Jim," Janice smiles.

"Thank you," Jim nods to her.

"For what?" Janice asks, slightly confused.

"Forgiving me," Jim answers.

"You're my friend, Jim," Janice replies. "You've been my friend for years. I know you and I know you'd never attack me while in your right mind."

Jim smiles, but before he can speak a beep lets him know he has an incoming video call. Janice Rand quickly takes her leave as Jim answers the call. Pike's face appears on the screen.

"Admiral," Jim greets.

" _Captain,_ " Pike answers.

"Was there anything you needed Admiral?" Jim asks.

Pike nods, " _Orders from high command. There's a planet less than a day's travel at warp four from your current location. The federation have been taking part in peace talks after a civil war broke out over two years ago. At the current rate, the talks will have break down before the end of the week._ "

"What are our orders?" Jim questions.

" _Get in there and keep the peace,_ " Pike replies. " _These talks cannot, I repeat, cannot break down. I cannot stress enough, how important this is._ "

"Understood, Sir," Jim nods.

" _Good,_ " Pike sits back in his chair and relax slightly. " _How's the Captain's life treating you, son?_ "

"Fine," Jim answers.

" _James,_ " Pike warns.

Jim winces slightly at the use of his full name, but Pike had always called him by his full name, never simply 'Jim'… But that was only ever when he was in trouble or in a formal setting. The rest of the time Pike referred to him as 'son'.

"It's been… Interesting, to say the least, sir," Jim replies more honestly.

)o(

Captain's Log:

 _The away team are still under the care of Doctor McCoy and his staff. They're well on their way to a full recovery and should be back at their posts within the next few days, of they're given the all clear. I, myself, am fully recovered… At least that's what Bones thinks. I just can't shake the feeling that there's a part of missing. There's no time to dwell on that, the Enterprise has new orders and the eyes of the federation are going to be on us. This is the first serious diplomatic mission we've been assigned._

)o(

 **Hey, I hope you enjoyed this story. Until next time,**

 **Blessed be,**

 **TreeOfLife1997.**


End file.
